Management

George Ogilvie

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

George Ogilvie

George Ogilvie, has over 30 years of management, operating and technical experience in the mining industry. Mr. Ogilvie was until most recently the President & CEO of Battle North, a position he was appointed to, in 2016 whilst the company was under financial insolvency & restructuring proceedings. During his 5 year tenure at Battle North, Mr. Ogilvie and his team successfully completed a turnaround of the company resulting in an increase in the resource base from 400 k ounces Au to approximately 1.3 million oz Au, completion of a positive bulk mining reconciliation program resulting in de-risking of the project, delivery of a preliminary economic assessment and follow on feasibility study in relation to the project with a post-tax IRR of 50% and completion debt and equity financing of over C$100m associated with project construction. Battle North was acquired by Evolution Mining Limited in May 2021 at a 45% premium to the prevailing spot price. Prior to this, Mr. Ogilvie was the CEO of Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. where he and his team implemented a turnaround strategy which included, amongst other items, improving operations at the Macassa Mine and the acquisition of St. Andrew Goldfields, resulting in significant returns for shareholders. Previously, Mr. Ogilvie was the CEO of Rambler Metals and Mining PLC, where he and his team guided the evolution of the company from grassroots exploration to a profitable junior producer. Mr. Ogilvie began his mining career in 1989 with AngloGold in South Africa and he subsequently held other roles at the Ruttan Mine in Northern Manitoba for HudBay Minerals Inc., the McCreedy West Mine and also as Area Manager for Dynatec Corporation. 

Mr. Ogilvie received his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Mining and Petroleum Engineering from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. He is a Professional Engineer and also holds his Mine Managers Certificate (South Africa). 

Bernie Loyer

Senior Vice President, Projects

Bernie Loyer

Bernie Loyer is a Project Mining Executive with over 35 years of international mining experience including over 20 years in LATAM, having worked in Peru, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. As Senior VP Projects, he will lead the engineering, procurement and management resources in the development and execution of Arizona Sonoran’s project portfolio.  Arizonan Bernie Loyer joins ASCU from SolGold where he held the position of VP Projects leading the development of the Porvenir and Cascabel projects in Ecuador.  A mechanical engineer, fluent in English and Spanish, Mr. Loyer holds multiple patents for the design of process and material handling equipment. Mr. Loyer has a proven track record delivering large scale mining projects including Goldcorp's Penasquito Project in Zacatecas, Mexico, Goldcorp´s Cerro Negro Project in Santa Cruz, Argentina and Torex Gold´s Morelos Project in Guerrero, Mexico. Mr. Loyer spent five years at FLSmidth Minerals based in Copenhagen serving as Vice President, Minerals Technology and Chief Product Officer where he was responsible for all global process technology, manufacturing and material handling. Prior to that he served 15 years with BHP Billiton, spending the last 10 years in Peru and Chile where he held operational, maintenance and project leadership positions.  Bernie is based at our project site and our Tempe, Arizona office.  

Nicholas Nikolakakis

VP Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Nicholas Nikolakakis

Mr. Nikolakakis has over 27 years of corporate finance, accounting and senior management experience within the mining sector. Over his career, he has raised over US$2 billion in numerous mining transactions. Most recently he was the Chief Financial Officer for Battle North Corporation (acquired by Evolution Mining in 2021). He was also the former Chief Financial Officer of Rainy River Resources. Prior to Rainy River, Nick was the Vice President of Corporate Finance at Barrick Gold Corporation, where he led a US$1 billion project financing for Barrick's Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic and successfully negotiated a US$1.5 billion corporate revolving credit facility. Other previously held positions by Mr. Nikolakakis include, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Placer Dome Canada, and Treasurer at North American Palladium Ltd.

Mr. Nikolakakis holds an Applied Science degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario's Ivey School of Business.

Nicholas Hayduk

VP Corporate Development, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Nicholas Hayduk

Nicholas (Nick) Hayduk has been a corporate lawyer for over 23 years, including 16 years in senior management and executive roles at publicly traded mining companies. Most recently, Nick was Chief Legal Officer, Vice President Corporate Affairs and Corporate Secretary at Excellon Resources Inc., and previously he was Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Battle North Gold Corporation, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer at Lundin Mining Corporation, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Kinross Gold Corporation, General Counsel, Operations – Canada and U.S. at Goldcorp Inc. and General Counsel, Canada at Placer Dome. Nick’s experience in these roles includes corporate governance best practices, securities and other regulatory compliance, public M&A and private asset transactions valued at over US$18 billion, public equity and debt offerings raising over US$3 billion, senior secured credit facilities of up to US$1.5 billion, multi-national joint-ventures, a wide variety of domestic and international contracts, litigation management, global compliance programs, enterprise risk management, and land title and mineral tenure management. His other professional activities have included being a member of the Advisory Group to the UN Global Compact Network Canada for its Guide for General Counsel – How to influence the board of directors to drive sustainability and the Steering Committee for the European Commission’s Feasibility Study for EU-Canada Mineral Cooperation. Prior to joining the mining industry, Nick practiced corporate law at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. 

Nick is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, Canada. He holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Law Degree from Dalhousie University, in addition to a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History from the University of Alberta.

Douglas Bowden

Vice President Exploration

Douglas Bowden

Douglas Bowden has over 40 years' experience in the minerals exploration industry focused on gold, silver, uranium and base metals throughout North America and parts of Mexico. Mr. Bowden's career evolved rapidly from field geologist to a variety of management and executive positions with major and junior mining companies. Mr. Bowden has successfully managed exploration programs for major mining companies such as Amselco Minerals, Inc., BP Minerals, Kennecott Exploration Company and Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. (formerly Western Uranium Corporation) ("Western Uranium"). His work has involved managing large projects and directing regional generative programs. Mr. Bowden served in senior executive positions with Gold Summit Corporation, Western Uranium and Concordia Resources Inc. He is a licensed Professional Geologist in Utah and has consulted for junior mining companies since 2012.

Mr. Bowden holds Geology Degrees from Grand Valley State University (BSc-1974) and Michigan Technological University (MSc-1978). He is a member of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and a past officer of the Geological Society of Nevada (GSN).

Travis Snider

VP Sustainability and External Relations

Travis Snider

Travis Snider is an Arizona-based mining executive with over 20 years of broad industry experience in exploration, production, permitting, development, and consulting for mining companies. Mr. Snider has been involved in a number of sustainability and efficiency projects at mining companies which has resulted in several operations moving to renewable energy sources to power mining operations. Most recently he was the Mining Project Manager at Engineering & Environmental Consultants. Previously, Mr. Snider has served as a Director for Alliance Mining Corporation, Elm Tree Minerals, and was on the Board for the Arizona Mining Association. He has also worked for Phelps Dodge Mining Corporation and served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Sierra Resource Group Inc. in restarting operations at the Emerald Isle Mine in Arizona. Mr. Snider also was Vice President of Mining and Oil Operations for the engineering firm, Wilcox Professional Services. Wilcox specialized in EPC services for large industrial projects and specialized in exploration drilling. Along with Wilcox Mr. Snider has worked for several other large engineering and environmental firms, including NV5, Kleinfelder and Mactec. Whilst at Mactec, he developed renewable energy projects for mining companies to utilize their lands for energy development.

Mr. Snider holds Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Chemistry from Arizona State University and is part of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration and the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Alison Dwoskin

Director, Investor Relations

Alison Dwoskin

Alison Dwoskin has 18 years of experience in investor relations and corporate communications for publicly traded companies. Ms. Dwoskin began her career at a Toronto-based investor relations firm where she was responsible for the development and implementation of IR programs. She held the position of Manager, Investor Relations at Klondex Mines Ltd. from early 2013 to 2016, followed by IR activities for a Québec-based gold exploration company. At Klondex Mines Ltd., Ms. Dwoskin played a key role in developing and executing the IR and communications plan to support the company's transition from exploration and development, into a low-cost gold producer.

Ms. Dwoskin graduated with Hons. BA in Art and Archaeology, and subsequently completed a Marketing Management Certificate. She followed-up her formal education by earning the Certified Professional Investor Relations (CPIR) designation in conjunction with the IVEY Business School and CIRI. She currently serves as Chair of the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute and as a Director of CIRI National.